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Senator Proposes Life Sentence for Execs that Delay Auto Recalls Resulting in Deaths

Claire McCaskill. Automotive bigwigs should tremble with fear when they hear this Senator's name 'cause she's the lady that recently introduced the Motor Vehicle and Highway Safety Enhancement Act.
The redesigned key covered under the ignition cylinder recall 1 photo
Photo: GM
This new and dramatic bill “gives federal prosecutors greater discretion to bring criminal prosecutions for auto safety violations and increases the possible penalties, including up to life in prison for violations that result in death,” informs McCaskill's office.

As you might have guessed by now, this is the toughest measure yet in the notorious havoc created by the General Motors recall saga. That's very appropriate if you recall that hundreds of lawsuits have been filed up to this moment against GM, claiming injuries or even the death of many occupants of automobiles affected by hazardous ignition switches and "unintended ignition key rotation."

A report published by The Detroit News tells that this bill would cancel the current $35 million fine applied to carmakers for delaying call back operations, also upping the per-vehicle fine from $5,000 to a whopping $25,000. That's OK by us, but up to 15 years of hard time in jail for executives that knew about the delayed faults and the forfeiture of assets in the event of a conviction would certainly make both higher-ups and automakers think very carefully before they put a car on sale in the United States.

“With millions of Americans behind the wheel every day, and more than 33,000 killed on our roads each year, we’ve got to do more to keep our cars and the roads we drive them on safe,” McCaskill said for the aforementioned publication. “Painful recent examples at Toyota and GM have shown us we also must make it easier to hold accountable those who jeopardize consumers’ safety. For too long, auto safety resources have remained virtually stagnant while cars and the safety challenges they present have become more complex.”
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About the author: Mircea Panait
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After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well.
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